New Med App Tackles Maternal Health Improvements

In developing nations, lack of equipment and resources translates into potentially thousands of deaths and lack of care for those who need it most: expectant mothers, newborns, and children. Soon, a smartphone may help change that.

LionsGate Technologies has received $2 million in funding from a combination of Canadian public and private investors to develop the Phone Oximeter. The combination app/medical sensor turns a smartphone, tablet, or laptop computer into a medical-grade diagnostic tool that will let health workers monitor blood oxygen levels, a critical measurement in determining maternal and fetal health.

The Phone Oximeter is a combination of app and medical sensor. (Source: LionsGate Technologies)

The Phone Oximeter measures blood oxygen levels through a light sensor attached to a person's fingertip. The device then uses a predictive score to accurately identify when oxygen levels in the blood are too low, a condition caused by a variety of problems in women and children, including pneumonia, which kills more than one million children each year. With a target price of $40, the device brings pulse oximetry to a level of affordability that is 80% less expensive than comparable high-level medical device.

"Through innovative engineering, we have been able to tap into the computing power of smartphones to produce medical-grade, low-cost monitoring systems amenable to widespread usage in low- and medium-resource countries," Dr. Guy Dumont of the University of British Columbia said in a press release. He, along with Dr. Mark Ansermino and Dr. Peter von Dadelszen, developed the technology.

The monitor also identifies an estimated 80% of cases of pregnant women at risk of life-threatening complications due to high blood pressure, the company said. The condition, preeclampsia, is one of three leading causes of maternal mortality, according to the Preeclampsia Foundation. Each year, preeclampsia and its related complications kills 76,000 of an estimated 10 million pregnant women worldwide, according to the group. The number of fetus and infant deaths due to these disorders is estimated at more than 500,000.

"That equates to over 1,600 deaths of pregnant young women and babies every day -- an unacceptable burden – and more than 99 percent of these deaths occur in developing countries – an issue of social justice," said von Dadelszen.

This funding provides a first step toward real-world use. Next, the device will be fine-tuned by measuring the blood oxygen of athletes in training. Then, the company intends to perform long-term medical trials around the device's usefulness in identifying preeclampsia. The trails will involve 80,000 women in four countries: India, Pakistan, Mozambique, and Nigeria.

@prabhakar, I agree that this is a good thing. The fact that is most impressive to me is that this is "medical grade". That means that a professional device can be had at a fraction of the price--and quite readily. I hope we'll see more of this type of thing.

The medical electronics market is expected to reach US$372.4 billion by 2018 primarily supported by the application sectors monitoring & surgical systems, imaging systems, diagnostics and medical therapeutics. Globally, medical therapeutics and imaging systems together account for approximately 52.9% of the market and are expected to support the medical electronics industry going forward. Geographical analysis shows that the highest Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 17.2% is anticipated from Asia-Pacific region during the analysis period, 2011-2018. Among the application sectors, monitoring & surgical systems account for the largest share of the entire market, driving a CAGR of 13.4% during the analysis period 2011-2018. Imaging Systems see as the fastest growing application with a forecast CAGR of approximately 16.9% by 2018. Along with the fast growth and rapid advancement in technology related to healthcare industry, the medical electronics expectations have increased innovatively for large numbers of incurable disease.

I found myself wondering wonder how much of this is mobile devices. According to a new estimate released a few days ago by ReportsnReports.com the total market will account for $9 billion in 2014. More impressive: The report estimates growth at a CAGR of nearly 40% over the next 6 years.

This would be one of the most advantageous use of technology for human beings. There are many countries where healthcare is not available to masses. But people can easily afford a smartphone, this would be very useful. And the transport is also not good that woman can go out to the clinic so this will be defintely be a great help.

THis is true. The equipment of such kind is not available in remote villages and if such App is available on a smart phone interface trhen even the semi trained staff at the rural health centers will be able to provide the necessary assistance to the needy paitents , in emergency situations.